Red alert: Illawarra Grevillea Park Botanic Garden opens this weekend
By John Elton of the Illawarra Grevillea Park Botanic Garden
Some of the most stunning plants in any garden are red. And there is no shortage of spectacular red grevilleas.
Grevillea Katherine’s Fire will grow to about 2 metres high and wide and is always in flower. It has deeply divided dark green foliage and large red flowers.
But it is the golden yellow stamens that make the flowers so special.
Birds and bees are highly attracted to this grevillea. It can be used as a feature plant, as part of a hedge, or mixed with other plants.
Another lovely red grevillea is Lady O. This is a smaller growing plant that has spidery red blooms. It makes a nice pot specimen but is also a great rockery plant. Lady O flowers all year and is a bee and bird magnet.
One of the best places to see a range of red grevilleas is at the Illawarra Grevillea Park Botanic Garden, which is open on the first two weekends in May.
Need to know
The garden is on Grevillea Park Road at Bulli – just head on through the roundabout to the large carpark. Opening hours are 10am to 4pm each day. Lots of plants will be available for sale. Entry to the park and the plant sale area is $7, eftpos is accepted. For more information, visit the website or follow on Facebook.
